NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - DAYTON VS GEORGIA

March 17, 2022

Mikayla Coombs

Jenna Staiti

Georgia Bulldogs

Media Conference

Q. Jenna, Dayton has some size inside. Just wondering what kind of matchup, battle you're expecting in there.

JENNA STAITI: For sure. For the past couple of days we have been looking at Dayton and going through their scout, and they have great size, I think both guards and post. I'm excited for the matchup. I have great respect for their post players. And so, yeah, I'm excited.

Q. Another question. Georgia has a long history of NCAA tournament success and then getting into the tournament. Is that a motivator for you and your teammates to keep that going?

JENNA STAITI: Oh, for sure. Coming to Georgia, Coach Joni, we always talk about getting to the tournament is part of Georgia's tradition, and it's been taken care of by the past. And so each year that's a goal of ours. Yeah, our mindset coming into this is take one game at a time, and yeah, the rest will fall on us.

Q. Mikayla, when you transferred in from Connecticut, two-part question. A, did you feel like you were kind of coming home? And, B, what did you do to find your role with the new team?

MIKAYLA COOMBS: Yeah. That was probably one of the main things that Coach Joni welcomed me home greatly. So that was probably the best part about being able to transfer is coming home and being close to my family. They're able to come to pretty much every game. And then the second part is just the coaches are very focused on me just being able to play and help in any way I can. So I don't really think there was a way I'm finding a role, just trying to go out there and do everything I can to help.

Q. Mikayla, last year you started two games. You didn't have many starts, obviously, before this year. What would you say to someone who's an off-the-bench player about patience and waiting your time?

MIKAYLA COOMBS: Yeah. I think last year, I actually took it as a blessing in disguise, because I think being able to come in off the bench, you're able to see how you can impact the game from the bench. And it was easier for me to come in and see little things I could do. So I think giving advice to anybody that's waiting on that time, just try to impact in any way you can just coming off the bench.

Q. Mikayla, I think I've asked every single one of your teammates about her, but can you think of a moment with Reigan in practice where you've really been able to see like her talents, that really have like just amazed you at any point?

MIKAYLA COOMBS: Honestly, I think for me, it started when Rei first came to Georgia like in the summer workouts, just seeing in pickup her way just to be able to score in bunches and just seeing how natural it was for her. So that was probably the first outlook of it that I saw.

Q. Question for both Mikayla and Jenna. What are you expecting from Dayton? And, also, how do you measure success with this year's tournament for you all individually?

MIKAYLA COOMBS: Dayton is a really good team. We were able to watch last night, but we've been preparing for them the past couple of practices. But I think just knowing that they're able to shoot the 3 really well. They have good size, both guards and post. It's going to be a fast-paced game. So that's what we're expecting. Measuring the success in the tournament, I think we're just taking it one game at a time, but we're just focusing on setting our legacy here.

JENNA STAITI: Yeah, just piggyback off what Mikayla said, they have great size. They defend really well. They remind us of kind of what we do. Yeah, it's going to be a fast-paced game. And like Mikayla said, our main focus is one game at a time, and the rest, it'll fall on us. And just leaving our legacy is the most important thing.